Recycling In, Garbage Out

The Idea

  • 416 recycling litter bins in Melbourne
  • 2897 other litter bins
  • Recycling bins strategically placed
  • What if every public litter bin could accept recycling?

Increasing Recycling, Reducing Waste

  • Use image recognition on every public litter bin to recognise recycling
  • Increase number of recycling litter bins around CBD

How it Works

  • Two cameras, images and infrared
  • Image recognition for detecting object type - eg coffee cup, plastic bottle, etc
    • machine learning image recognition
  • Infrared for detecting food spoilage
    • methane emissions

Gamifying Recycling

  • Two LED light units on every bin, with matching colours to bin signage
  • Audible tone played
  • Hold item in front of bin for a second to allow image recognition
  • Bin lights up and plays a tone to match recycling type
    • accessible to both hearing or vision impaired persons

Take it Home

  • App for your phone
  • Scan item with phone’s camera
  • Screen changes colours and plays a tone to match whether the item is recyclable
  • “I need your help” for items it can’t recognise
    • add images to data bank for image recognition, the model grows

Show and Tell

  • Also can be used in schools to teach good recycling habits

Waste to Landfill Reduction

Next Steps